Blog Archives

I really didn’t watch very many films in February. Mostly being soooo tired because of the bad weather, traveling a lot, and the fact that most movie theaters in February were still full of 2018 holdovers that I’d either already seen or didn’t want to see. That said, I did have some favorites that I watched and as always you can see those after the cut.

Jesse: I’m okay with you being a complicated human being! I don’t wanna live a boring life where two people own each other, where two people are institutionalized in a box that others created – because that is a bunch of stifling bullshit!

I’m trying to remember the first time I saw this film and I have a vague recollection of seeing it on TBS when I was in middle school. I do know that when I was a freshman or sophomore in high school one of my teachers showed it and we had an in-depth discussion of the film’s themes (well, as in-depth as you can in a podunk small town high school class filled with asshole 14 years old – I include myself in that description). A lot of what I’ll write about here is based on that discussion of the film, actually. I guess it was sophomore year because I think it was the class where the teacher who normally taught geography/history had to take over our English class, so mostly instead of reading books we watched films and discussed them. It was kind of a wonderful class if memory serves. At least, for me it was, because, well, movies. Dead Poets Societywas nominated for four Academy Awards, winning one: Best Original Screenplay (won), Best Actor Robin Williams, Best Director and Best Picture. The other films nominated for Best Picture that year were Born on the Fourth of July, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot and winner Driving Miss Daisy.

Jesse: Um, do you believe in reincarnation?Céline: Yeah, yeah, it’s interesting.Jesse: Most people, you know, a lot of people talk about the past lives, and things like that, you know, and even if they don’t believe in it in some specific way, you know, people have some kind of notion of an eternal soul, right?Céline: Yeah.Jesse: Okay. Well, this is my thought. Fifty thousand years ago, there are not even a million people on the planet. Ten thousand years ago, there’s like two million people on the planet. Now, there’s between five and six billion people on the planet, right? Now, if we all have our own, like, individual, unique soul, right, where do they all come from? Are modern souls only a fraction of the original souls?. Because if they are, that represents a five thousand-to-one split of each soul in just the last fifty thousand years, which is like a blip in the earth’s time. You know, so, at best, we’re like these tiny fractions of people, you know, walking… I mean, is that why we’re all so scattered? You know, is that why we’re all so specialized?Céline: Wait a minute, I’m not sure I…I don’t….Jesse: Hang on, I know, I know, its a totally scattered thought, which is kind of why it makes sense.

Troubled video-rental chain Blockbuster Inc. could file for bankruptcy protection as early as Wednesday, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

Citing unnamed sources, the Journal said Blockbuster is working with creditors to develop a bankruptcy restructuring plan that would free it of debt and allow the company to keep some stores open and focus more on digital distribution.

If Blockbuster misses an interest payment on Sept. 30, more than $900 million in debt will be due in full.

The article says billionaire investor Carl Icahn owns one-third of Blockbuster’s debt and would return to the company’s board once it exits Chapter 11. He resigned from the board in January.

Blockbuster and Icahn did not return calls for comment.

Once a home entertainment powerhouse, Blockbuster, based in Dallas, has been losing market share for years as more consumers switch to video subscription services like Netflix Inc., video on demand services and curbside rentals such as Redbox.

Blockbuster peaked at about 9,100 stores in 2004, but it has since shut many to cut costs and is down to about 5,800 as of August. In the same period, Netflix membership has grown from 2.6 million to about 15 million.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere, so to be honest I don’t know that I’ve ever even been in a Blockbuster. I also am a huge fan of Netflix. Still, it’s sad to see the end of an era.